Reflection and refraction of light at saturating active boundaries

Abstract

This study deals with the topic of reflection and refraction of light from the boundary of a high-gain saturating laser amplifier. Expressions for the electric field and intensity reflection and transmission coefficients are obtained for the case of a wave in a uniform dielectric that is incident normally on a nonlinear saturating active medium. Bistability effects are predicted even for the simplest case of zero frequency detuning from the line centre of the saturating transition.